


Pet Names

by Khellamendra



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 12:18:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17121227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khellamendra/pseuds/Khellamendra
Summary: Veronica used pet names so easily while Nadia struggles. Hopefully her team can offer some assistance.





	Pet Names

"I'll see you later bomboncita. Have fun." Veronica leaned over to kiss Rizavi in the cheek. Smiling the girl waved. 

"Alright. Be careful!" As soon as the door shut she rolled over to stare at the ceiling. The team wasn't going to run drills for another hour or so and Veronica had Garrison work to do. That meant she had plenty of time to herself although she would rather be able to spend it with her girlfriend. Then again she needed the free time for the task now before her. The two of them had been together for a few months and pet names came so easily from Veronica while Rizavi struggled to find one that didn't sound awkward. "Okay today is the day. I got this! I'm totally able to do this." 

Rolling over on her stomach, she hummed to herself as she thought it over. Time seemed to slip by before she groaned, burying her face in the blankets. "I've got nothing. Okay plan B! I'll ask the team their opinions!" Jumping up, sleep clothes went flying as she changed. Ready in record time, she hurried out the door. 

James was the easiest to find, he rarely deviated from his schedule. Normally she found that boring but today it was helpful and the fact he had Leifsdottier with him meant Rizavi wouldn’t have to try to figure out where she decided to hide out. James didn't even look up from the notes he was writing though Lefisdottier gave a short wave. "Something wrong?" He asked as she plopped down in the seat across from them with a sigh. 

"Yes actually. I need a pet name." The sounds of a pen on paper stopped. Looking up at the flustered girl, his eyes didn’t quite meet hers and there was an unexpected pink to his cheeks. 

"Look I think you're a really nice person and a good friend but I'm not sure we're really on that level.” Staring at him, that only caused him to get even more flustered. When she didn’t say anything, he actually looked at her this time. A hand covered her mouth as she shook with barely contained laughter.. “What? What did I say?” he asked with a frown that only deepened when she snorted. 

“Oh my god James you already know I’m in a relationship. I meant for her you big dork.” The realization that crossed his face was what finally broke her. The laughter only made his blush worse and he hastily gathered his papers. 

“I knew that! I just...that is...you can figure it out on your own! I’m going to be late.” He huffed and hastily picked up the rest of his stuff. Wiping her tears away she tried to stop him.

“Aww come on. Don’t be like that I really do need your help!” Inhaling heavily, she finally got it out of her system but James was already gone. Rizavi made a mental note to make it up to him later, for now she still had a mission to complete. Instead she turned her attention to the other woman. “I mean that was kinda funny right, Ina?” 

“Misunderstanding the obvious is often a source of entertainment though often at the expense of the person that caused it. It was amusing though.” She offered with a shrug. 

“Right? So good. Anyway pet names. For Veronica. Help me brainstorm.” 

“You could use one of the more common terms of endearment such as sweetheart or baby. Comparing someone to something cute or sweet is very popular among couples.” Ina offered.

“But I don’t want to be all generic and boring plus she already calls me sweetheart, just not in English. Which is really cool and what I come up with has to be as cool if not cooler than what she calls me.” Rizavi said with a huff, tapping her foot as she tried to think of an answer. 

“Then logically you should return the gesture with one from your own culture should you not?” Rizavi bit her lip at the suggestion. That had crossed her mind and it wasn’t as if there weren’t a bunch of good ones. Did that count as copying? Would it sound weird and not romantic at all? What if Veronica hated it? 

“I don’t know.I mean I only ever use it at home or when talking to my family but never with with anyone else. Maybe I shouldn’t.” She said dejectedly. Shaking her head she stood up suddenly. “I’m not going to give up now.I still have one more person to ask before I make any decisions. Thanks Ina!” Without looking back she ran out of the library and down the hall, renewed and determined. Kinkade was a little bit harder to track down but after going through the usual haunts, she was about to give up until literally running into him. 

Long arms held a camera above his head, making sure to keep it from being damaged or grabbed by over eager hands. It was tempting but she shook her head. No she had to focus and figure this out. “You’re just the person I was looking for, I need a favor.” Crossing his arms, stern eyes stared down at her. She waited for him to ask what she wanted but when that never came she continued anyway. “Okay so you know how Veronica and I finally became a thing and I’m super lucky because she’s soooooo cool and sweet and really just the best thing ever?” More silence. “Well she’s also really amazing at pet names which is also super sweet and I want to do the same. I just seem to be having trouble for some reason and really it should come easy right but-” 

“I get it, you need a pet name for your girl.” He cut in, putting a hand to his chin. 

“Exactly! The problem is I don’t know what to do. James thought I was asking him to give me one, which was totally silly and when I laughed at him he got mad and left. Which was absolutely unhelpful. Ina at first suggested I should go with something boring but then when I mentioned that Veronica uses a pet name from her culture that I should do the same. The problem is she might hate that or think it’s weird or...something! So maybe-” 

“Look she obviously means a lot to you, otherwise you wouldn’t be getting so worked up over this. You love her right?” He cut in as she nodded so quickly he was afraid she’d get whiplash. “So just listen to your heart and stop over thinking it. No matter what you come up with, as long as it’s from the heart, then she’ll like it and there is nothing wrong with sharing your culture with your partner. If anything she probably wants to know even more, just like you do with her.” Rizavi stared at him with wide eyes.

“You think so?”

“If she doesn’t, is that really someone you want to be with? It’s as much a part of you as anything else. I say take Ina’s suggestion and put as much of yourself into it. She does tend to have good ideas. Weird sometimes but still good.” Brows knitted together as she thought about it. Was there really a reason she was so worried that Veronica wouldn’t like what she came up with? True Rizavi wanted it to be as wonderful and perfect as Veronica and she wanted her to know how much she meant but didn’t Veronica already know that? She smiled. 

“Yeah I think, well maybe you’re right.” She said softly. “Well more Ina because it was her idea but still. Thanks, I think what I really needed was a pep talk. Alright I got this!” Starting to walk off, a large hand stopped her. 

“Don’t we have drills now?” Shoulders slumped as she groaned. 

“I totally forgot about that. Fiiiiine after drills then.” She whined, reluctantly turning and following Kinkade to her fate. 

By the time the drills were over with, she was more than happy to drag herself back to her room for some recharge time. Walking into the room, she was assaulted by the smell of something delicious and the sounds of cooking. Drooling a little, she wandered into the small kitchen to see Veronica making something and humming to herself. Rizavi was sorry to have the melody stop when she was noticed but the smile that was flashed her way, more than made up for it. “Hey are you hungry? I heard you and the others have been working really hard. I had some time to myself before the next meeting so I thought I’d make something for you. I know how tired you always are after you’re finished and-” She paused, noticing the way a face scrunched up as tears gathered in brown eyes. “Are you okay? Did something happen?” 

“No it’s just that you’re the best girlfriend ever and I am the luckiest girl in the world! You are the best janaan” Hugging Veronica tightly from behind, she didn’t loosen her grip until a hand patted hers. Able to breath again, Veronica smiled. 

“Really? Because I was just thinking the same thing about you. Wait what did you call me?” Veronica felt arms tense around her before Rizavi pulled back. Shiftly from one foot to the other, she played with the drawstrings on her jacket.

“Oh uh it’s no big deal or anything. It’s just, well it’s Urdu and it means beloved.” she said laughing before trailing off awkwardly. Arms suddenly wrapped around her, pulling the girl into her own tight hug this time. 

“I like it. It’s very much you.” 

“Really?” Veronica pulled back and nodded. 

“Yeah, really. Now let me finish this before I end up burning it. That would not be fun for either of us.” Rizavi laughed. 

“I can’t wait janaan.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always very hesitant to use words from a language I'm not overly familiar with. That said I did some research and got some conflicting information on Rizavi's pet name for Veronica. My first choice turned out to be Farsi so I had to keep looking. The general consensus seemed to be janaan worked in this context. I determined Rizavi's potential ethnicity based on her name though first and last weren't quite from the same country but same general area. It's entirely possible her parents were from different regions of the middle east so I didn't think too much on it. Since Rizavi was identified as being the Urdu form of an Arabic surname, I went with that as the main language. Hopefully I got it right and I very much apologize if I didn't. Feel free to correct me, I'm always about accuracy.


End file.
